At the opening ceremony of the Biofach organic trade faire in Nuremberg organic farmers from France, Austria, Hungary and Greece petitioned German Minister of Agriculture Ilse Aigner to vote against an EU Commission proposal to force the countries to lift their ban on the cultivation of the genetically modified maize line Mon 810.

In her opening speech, Aigner criticized the cultivation of Mon 810 and announced that she would prohibit further cultivation should monitoring requirements not be met.

Aigner would not make any binding statements as to how Germany will vote in the upcoming EU Council of Ministers meeting on March 2nd that will decide on the national bans.